Iran's attack on Israel, the peak of the feud between the Middle Eastern superpowers

Iran's attack on Israel was the culmination of a decades-long feud between the two Middle Eastern superpowers.

AFP/ATTA KENARE

Demonstrators wave Iranian and Palestinian flags as they gather in front of the British Embassy in Tehran, April 14, 2024, after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel. Iran's Revolutionary Guard confirmed later that day that the attack was carried out against Israel in retaliation for a deadly April 1 drone attack on its consulate in Damascus.

For the first time in history, Iran attacked Israeli soil through missile fire and drone attacks. The historical record of Iran-Israel shows that this attack was the culmination of a decades-long feud between the two Middle Eastern superpowers.

This year's Idul Fitri has apparently not been able to bring peace to the Middle East. Instead of subsiding, the flames of conflict in the region have only intensified. Four days after Idul Fitri, Iran finally launched a retaliatory attack against Israel.

Israel, which has been on full alert for the past week, claims to have successfully shot down 99 percent of Iran's projectiles and drones before they entered its territory. Their ability to ward off attacks is supported by the advanced air defense systems Iron Dome and Arrow. Not only that, the military forces of the United States, Britain, France, and Jordan also played a role in defending Israel's skies from Iran's missile and unmanned aerial vehicle assaults.

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However, despite this, a number of Iranian missiles and rockets are still able to pass through and reach Israeli territory. Seven rockets were reported to have hit Israel's Ramon Air Base in the Negev Desert. However, Israel stated that the attack only caused minor damage to a number of military infrastructure.

So far, there have been no reports of casualties from the Israeli military's attack. It was reported that only a seven-year-old child was injured by shrapnel from a missile destroyed by Israel's air defense system.

Although the damage caused is relatively small, Iran's attack on Israel marks a new chapter in the history of the conflict between the two Middle Eastern superpower countries. This is the first time Iran has directly attacked Israeli territory. Many are concerned that this attack could escalate the situation in the region to a more critical level.

At first it was harmonious

Even though many people view Iran and Israel as mortal enemies, relations between the two were actually harmonious. University of Oxford historian Eirik Kvindesland told Al Jazeera that Iran was the second Muslim-majority country after Turkey to recognize Israel's sovereignty de facto in 1948.

The 1950-1970s were the golden years of relations between Israel and Iran. This was not unrelated to the "periphery" diplomatic doctrine of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. The doctrine called for the need to seek allies outside of Arab countries, which were highly antagonistic towards Israel at the time. In addition to Turkey and Ethiopia, Gurion regarded Iran as a suitable candidate to be an ally.

Marta Furlan, in her journal published in 2022, explained that the relationship between Israel and Iran at that time was united by a common interest in geopolitics. Among the most important ones were the need to suppress the power of Arab countries, block the influence of the Soviet Union in the region, and get closer to the United States.

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AP/EBRAHIM NOROOZI

Iranians carry banners showing a caricature of the US President Donald Trump during the annual general meeting commemorating the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the deceased pro-US leader, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, February 10, 2017.

Iran, which was then under the monarchy of the Pahlavi dynasty, also considered Israel a suitable business partner for increasing revenue through oil exports. Moreover, Israel at that time was struggling to obtain a source of energy due to the massive boycott initiated by Saudi Arabian King Faisal bin Abdulaziz.

Cooperation in the field of oil export-import was then realized through the joint development of the Eilat-Askhelon pipeline that connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. Furlan stated that the facility is capable of dramatically increasing Iran's oil sales to Israel and Europe. At that time, supplies from Iran covered up to 70 percent of Israel's oil needs.

Apart from energy, it seems that Iran and Israel have also collaborated in the matter of weaponry. A declassified confidential document from the US Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1985 revealed that Israel regularly sold weapons to Iran during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi's regime.

The weaponry includes light weapons and artillery along with their ammunition. Not only that, Israel is also said to have assisted in the maintenance of Iran's air force and army combat aircraft. Steven Simon, an expert in international relations at Oxford University, mentioned in his paper that in the mid-1970s, Israel-Iran weapon transactions reached 500 million dollars per year.

Furthermore, Furla explained that in the end, Iran and Israel also established cooperation in other strategic fields, ranging from development, agriculture, exploitation of water resources, to intelligence. The peak of relations between Tel Aviv and Tehran was marked by the mutual opening of embassies in the mid-1970s.

The 1979 Iranian Revolution and the breakdown of relations between the two countries

However, that sweet relationship had to come to an end when the Iranian Revolution erupted in 1979. The movement led by Ruhollah Khomeini successfully ousted the monarchy and gave birth to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Furlan stated that the new regime led by Ruhollah Khomeini had a political ideology of anti-Zionism as the basis of the state's policies. Khomeini was said to be very sympathetic to the Palestinian independence and called Israel "the Little Satan" that illegally seized the land of Muslim people.

Also read: After Iran's attack, Israel intensifies attacks on Gaza

AFP

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a statement in Tehran on January 2, 2018. Behind him can be seen a photo of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Without a doubt, Tehran then severed all diplomatic relations with Israel that had been established for three decades. Iran also began to intensify its campaign to destroy Israel's existence on the face of the earth.

However, the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980 apparently forced Khomeini to compromise on his own ideology. Adapting from the book Israel and Iran: A Dangerous Rivalry, Iraq's power at that time had the upper hand because it was equipped with military equipment made by the United States and the Soviet Union.

Amid the US arms embargo, Iran has finally had to turn back to its old friend, Israel. On the other hand, Tel Aviv has an interest in overthrowing Iraq led by Saddam Hussein. This cannot be separated from Hussein's ambition to develop Iraq's nuclear technology capabilities. Israel then sees Iraq's victory as a greater threat to its security than Iran.

An agreement was eventually reached between the two countries. In the early 1980s, the then Prime Minister of Israel, Menachem Begin, agreed to send a fleet of Phantom fighter planes along with a number of other weapon packages to the Iranian army. In return, Khomeini allowed a large number of Iranian Jews to leave for the US or Israel.

The cooperation continued in an agreement between Iran, the United States, and Israel. In the secret collaboration later known as the "Iran-Contra" scandal, Iran successfully convinced Washington to resume supplying weapons to them. Meanwhile, the US asked Iran to help release hostages in Lebanon and finance the Contra rebellion movement in Nicaragua. Israel served as a mediator for both parties.

Iran-Israel proxy war

Even though Iran has cooperation with Israel, they still maintain a narrative against the Zionist state in public. This narrative is even manifested through the formation of the Hezbollah militia group after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

At that time, Iran was mentioned to have sent Revolutionary Guard forces to become instructors for the Hezbollah militia. Iran's involvement in this establishment also marked the beginning of the proxy war between Iran and Israel in the Middle East that continues until today.

Iran then completely cut ties with Israel in the early 1990s. According to Simon, the end of the war with Iraq in 1988 was the main reason behind Iran's change in attitude. The reason is, with the end of the war, Iran no longer needs urgent supplies of weapons. They can also focus again on the narrative of hostility towards Israel in order to gain sympathy from Muslim-majority countries in the region.

Also read: World Oil Prices Towards a New Balance

AFP/JALAA MAREY

An Israeli soldier, wearing a patch on the back of his flack jacket indicating Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as the target, stands in front of a self-propelled artillery howitzer. /i>in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, when artillery units attacked southern Lebanon on January 4, 2024.

The conflict between Israel and Iran truly began to be felt in the early 2000s. This cannot be separated from the defeat of Tehran's two other main enemies, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thus, Iran was able to strengthen its influence in the region.

The election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran in 2004 became a catalyst for the escalation of tension between Israel and Iran afterward. Ahmadinejad is a hardline conservative. In addition to repeatedly stating that Israel should be eradicated, he also has ambitions to develop Iran's nuclear technology. In 2011, Iran successfully became the first country in the Middle East to establish a nuclear power plant for civilian purposes.

Undoubtedly, Israel has begun to take Iran seriously as one of its existential threats. The United States Institute for Peace states that since 2010, Israel has carried out more than 20 secret operations against Iran, such as assassinations, drone attacks, and cyber attacks.

Most of these are aimed specifically at hindering Iran's nuclear development efforts. At least five Iranian nuclear scientists and engineers have died as a result of being killed by Israeli agents in the last 15 years. Not only that, Israel is also strongly suspected of carrying out a number of acts of sabotage against various Iranian nuclear facilities. One of the most recent is the explosion of Iran's uranium enrichment facility in Natanz in April 2021. A number of sources at The New York Times said that Israel was the mastermind behind the sabotage.

Facing various attacks, Iran did not remain silent. They then used their influence over several armed groups in the region to pressure Israel. This was mainly done through operations carried out by the Quds forces, a wing of the IRGC dedicated to forming Iran's proxy forces in the region.

Based on the analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations, Iran is a sponsor of at least 12 armed groups spread across Yemen, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. In a 2020 report, the US Department of State estimated that Iran sends $700 million to Hezbollah and $100 million to Hamas each year.

In addition to providing financial assistance, Iran also facilitates training for militias and becomes their main supplier of weaponry. Some of them have subsequently proven to be Iran's key allies in the fight against Israel, namely Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Houthi.

The outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011 became an opportunity for Iran to further increase pressure on Israel. By fully supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Iran gained strategic advantage in the form of direct access to the country located directly northeast of Israel.

As a result, Tehran can more easily carry out arms shipments to Hezbollah based in Lebanon, Syria's western neighbor. Not only that, Iran also has the opportunity to use the battle arena in Syria to directly train its "affiliated" militias.

No wonder, Israel, which increasingly felt squeezed from the north, east and south, finally took firm action to attack Iran directly. Quoting The Times of Israel, Tel Aviv said it had carried out air strikes against more than 200 Iranian targets in Syria during the 2017-2018 period. Tel Aviv said the airstrikes were a clear sign that it would never allow Iran to permanently establish military power in Syria.

The threat of open conflict arose when Israel launched an air attack on a Syrian air base near the city of Homs in April 2018. The Guardian reported that most of the 14 fatalities were Iranian citizens.

In the following month, it was alleged that Iran's Quds forces in Syria carried out retaliatory actions by launching more than 20 rockets at Israeli forces in the Golan Heights. Although Iran did not acknowledge or deny the attack, Tel Aviv immediately responded by conducting air strikes against several strategic targets of Iran in Syria.

Normalization that threatens Iranian hegemony

In addition to the battlefield, the influence war between these two countries also occurs at a high level of diplomatic relations. This is manifested by Israel through the normalization of diplomatic relations with Arab countries. This strategy is seen as one of Tel Aviv's best ways to pressure Tehran further. Moreover, Gulf Arab monarchies seem to begin to worry about the increasing hegemony of Iran in the region.

One of the most successful accomplishments is the achievement of the Abraham Accord in August 2020, in which Israel succeeded in normalizing relations with the United Arab Emirates. The agreement also made the UAE the first Gulf Arab country to establish formal diplomatic relations with Israel.

However, the normalization efforts that had started to yield results were derailed when the Hamas-Israel War broke out on October 7, 2023. Israel's brutal military approach towards Gaza civilians caused other Arab countries to refrain from engaging with Tel Aviv.

AFP/SAUL LOEB

(From left to right) Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan hold documents after participating in the signing of the Abraham Accord. Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognized Israel at the White House in Washington DC, on September 15, 2020.

On the other hand, Iran seems to have regained the initiative to strengthen its influence over proxy groups surrounding Israel. In January 2024, the United States forces seized a ship in the Arabian Sea that was found to be carrying hundreds of various weapons shipments from Iran to the Houthis in Yemen.

Adapting from The Times of Israel, an Israeli intelligence officer said that Iran is also increasingly increasing arms shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon via ports in Europe.The New York Times also revealed that Tehran begins supplying weapons to Palestinian resistance groups in the West Bank.

Currently, the war between the two Middle Eastern superpowers has emerged from the shadows of proxies and secret operations. Although the attack on April 14 did not result in significant losses for Israel, it has brought strategic benefits to Iran.

This can be seen from the thousands of Iranian citizens who take to the streets and cheer at the attack on Israel. Palestinian residents also applaud as they witness Iranian missiles flying across the skies of Israel.

Not only that, the missile launch actions from militia groups from several countries show that Iran is capable of orchestrating a large-scale multifront attack. This attack ultimately became a platform for Iran to remind its enemies that they are a powerful and influential country in the Middle East.

On the other hand, although Iran uses Article 51 of the UN Charter as justification for its attack on Israel, many countries are very concerned about the potential domino effect it may cause. As reported by AP, Israeli military officials have stated that their country will respond to Iran's attack at the "appropriate time". Historical records show that Israel is determined to always retaliate against any attack it receives from others.

Nevertheless, there is still a glimmer of hope to maintain regional and global stability, which is becoming increasingly fragile. Iran stated that their objective had been achieved and they would not continue the attacks. Additionally, US President Joe Biden also warned Netanyahu that Washington would not be involved if Israel were to launch a counterattack against Iran. He also urged Netanyahu to think "carefully" about the risks of escalation.

May Israel be willing to heed the advice of its closest and most loyal ally and choose to prevent the flames of conflict from spreading to other parts of the world. (R&D COMPAS)